Thursday, February 21, 2008

Back from NY

Well, I took a four day trip to New York for some I-Liq Chuan intensive training. It gets a little easier to do every year. The first year really drained me. The second year was tiring because we were training heavy. This year, my legs only got sore by the 3rd day, and I thought the meditation training was a little on the short side. I've come to realize more and more the truth of what my Sifu keeps saying: he's not teaching us anything new, we're just gaining a better understanding.

However, the thing that I realize the most is just how much work I have left ahead of me. Each time I train with my Sifu, the difference between my skill level and awareness compared to his becomes more clear to me. I already that he was a lot better than me, but now I'm beginning to comprehend just how vast the difference in mental focus and perceptual abilities between us is.

On the plus side, interacting with my senior gongfu brothers and with my Sifu has inspired me to ramp up my training again. I had been on cruise control for a while just getting my training from teaching. I really ought to be doing more personal training. So, I'm committing myself to getting at least 5 minutes of training and 5 minutes of meditation every day. Usually, if I make it through 5 minutes, I get more training in just from sheer momentum. Let's see if I can work my way back up to 30-60 minutes a day of training and meditation.